To say last season was frustrating for the Lowry High School boys soccer team would be an understatement. The Buckaroos collected just three wins all year — two of those coming over a winless Churchill County team in Northern 3A play.
After just one weekend of action in 2017, Lowry has exceeded that win total. The Buckaroos hosted a preseason tournament and went a perfect 4-0 to claim the championship. Lowry knocked off Battle Mountain 8-1 and Churchill County 13-0 in Friday’s pool play. The Buckaroos faced Churchill County in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon and won 7-0 and closed out the finale, beating Fernley 6-0.
“It was a good weekend for us and I am very pleased,” said LHS coach Steve Swanson. “We have had a rough couple of years and all this does is help out the confidence for this team. Fernley was a pretty decent team. We gave up one goal in four games and we will take that. The thing I am happy about is that we did not play down to our opponent. We did that quite a bit the last couple of years.”
In Friday’s opener, Lowry scored the first seven goals of the match. The Buckaroos grabbed a 1-0 lead off a goal by Anthony Cuevas, which was assisted by Diego Gudino. Nathan Kepler and Gudino added the next two goals to give the Buckaroos a 3-0 advantage.
Adrian Mendoza gave Lowry a 4-0 lead after Angel Galarza’s original shot was blocked. Julian Esquivel, Dalton Irons and Alex Herrera added the next three goals to increase the margin to 7-0.
The only goal Lowry gave up was late in the first half on a defensive miscue. However, the Buckaroos scored seconds later on a shot by Herrera off a corner kick by Oscar Juanes.
Lowry finished up pool play on Friday with a shutout victory over Churchill County. The Buckaroos dominated the young Greenwave squad from the start and moved players around to different positions throughout the 60 minutes.
Gudino and Kepler each had two goals.
Churchill County gave Lowry a better match in the semifinals on Saturday morning, but Lowry easily claimed the victory. The Buckaroos grabbed a 1-0 lead on a shot by Galarza off a throw in by Eduardo Aguilar. Alejandro Martinez and Gudino added the next two goals.
The Buckaroos extended the margin to 4-0 off the foot of Anthony Cuevas, which was assisted by Juanes and Galarza. Martinez scored two of the final three goals, with Galarza scoring in between.
Lowry extended its shutout streak to three games with a 6-0 win in the championship over Fernley.
Mendoza scored the only goal the Buckaroos would need in the opening minutes off of assists by Esquivel and Gudino. Lowry increased the advantage to 3-0 at halftime after goals by Kepler and Cuevas.
Lowry tacked on three more goals in the second half off of two goals by Mendoza and one by Kepler.
“I had a lot of surprises out there,” Swanson said. “Adrian, Alejandro and Nathan are so improved and I didn’t expect what I got out of them. Our defense was rock-solid and we got good play from everyone. It was a good team effort by everyone out there. It was a good weekend for us.”
Lowry is off this weekend and returns to action on Friday, Sept. 8, at Incline. The Buckaroos close out the road trip on Saturday, Sept. 9.
“We turned a corner this weekend and have a nice, solid team that can compete in the league,” Swanson said. “It is a tough weekend to start league play. Those are two of the best teams in the league. It is just the start, we have a lot of work to do.”
